The Generalitat has committed to build 637 flats for affordable rent and to hand over the keys within five years. The buildings will be erected on the eleven lots given by Barcelona City Council. Despite the fact that it is a figure lower than the 811 flats announced by Jaume Collboni at the end of August after meeting with President Pere Aragonès, the mayor has described the agreement as "record and historic due to the volume it represents".
The construction of these 637 flats was one of the achievements of the first meeting of the Generalitat-City Council joint commission that was held yesterday and in which, in addition to housing, other issues were addressed, such as the 'primary care. In this section, the two administrations also undertook to speed up the works - now in different phases of execution - of eleven facilities and to prioritize the projects of three more that are currently in the embryonic phase of study (they will be located in the areas of Sardinia, Old Town and Casanova). The agreement also includes the expansions of the Roquetes and Drassanes CAPs.
"Today's meeting has yielded very important results, the technicians have worked very intensively during the last two months", insisted Collboni. Both he and the Councilor of the Presidency, Laura Vilagrà, emphasized the constructive tone of the working meeting, which they hope to hold twice a year.
In this first commission, it was agreed to transfer eleven municipal lots – four in Sants for 267 homes and seven in Sant Martí for 370 more – to Incasòl. Housing that, once completed, will be managed by the Housing Agency. "We hope to sign the transfer before the end of the year so that the works can start quickly", said Collboni.
The agreement lowers the initial expectations announced after the meeting between the mayor and Aragonès in which the City Council offered fourteen lots to build 811 homes during this term and 13 more lots in the medium term to build 953 more flats. This proposal added up to 1,764 new flats which the reality has reduced to 637 in five years. "You can start building on these lots, we will reach the pre-agreed figure in phases, as we hand over more lots", said Collboni.
"Housing is an opportunity for us and what we have agreed on today is a concrete, tangible and quick measure", said Vilagrà, who explained that the agreements reached represent an investment by the Generalitat of around 200 million of euros Of this amount, 80 million will be allocated to the construction of homes and nearly 100 million to the promotion of projects and works of primary care centers: the expansion of CAP Besòs i la Pau and the construction of those in Raval Nord and Fort Pienc, as well as the acceleration of seven more. "We have prioritized the CAPs of the most vulnerable neighborhoods and the agreement will involve the acceleration of the calendar so that they are all finished or under construction at the end of this term", assured Collboni.
A further 20 million will go towards the construction of the L1 and L5 metro lifts in Plaça de Sants. The agreement envisages starting the works on L5 in 2024 to finish them in 2027 and to have them completed a year later on L1. These works will coincide with the already announced remodeling of the space and the station itself.
Other aspects that were addressed and approved by this mixed committee were the extension to 50 years of the Port Olímpic concession, which is managed by Barcelona City Council, and the dissolution of the Barcelonès Regional Council. "It was something that had dragged on for many years and that needed to be closed; a very technical matter has been agreed which was determined by a court ruling", explained Councilor Vilagrà.
Regarding the modification of the Municipal Charter, a technical aspect regarding recruitment was touched upon. "The rest of the issues require more consensus and we will address them when they are mature", said the minister.
